COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's peace broker Norway has mounted a fresh bid to salvage the island's faltering peace process that has been further undermined by brinkmanship by the two antagonists, sources said on Wednesday.
Norway's top peace envoy Erik Solheim met with the main Tamil Tiger peace negotiator in London, Anton Balasingham, on Tuesday and discussed ways to jumpstart talks between the two warring parties, the diplomatic sources said.
Balasingham told the Tamil daily, the Sudaroli, the future of the peace process was in the hands of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and there was no point blaming his Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"It is absurd to (say) again and again the LTTE is killing here and there," he was quoted as saying. "It is better for her to show her goodwill and give new life to the peace process." There was no immediate word from the Norwegians on Tuesday's meeting with Balasingham.
The sources said Solheim was expected to return to Sri Lanka September 13 on a four-day trip to continue his shuttle diplomacy and revive the talks process. Two weeks ago, Sri Lankan Premier Mahinda Rajapakse met his Norwegian counterpart Kjell Magne Bondevik on the sidelines of the Olympic Games where both expressed hope direct talks would resume soon after a 16-month stalemate.
The government here has accused LTTE of gunning down a number of opponents, the latest being a military intelligence operative near the capital on Saturday, two days after Colombo warned the guerrillas to halt the killings.
Western diplomats said they were concerned the spate of killings by the LTTE was forcing the government to raise the rhetoric due to its inability to strike back at the Tigers.
The government says it is eager to avoid a return to fighting that had claimed more than 60,000 lives between 1972 and 2002 when the latest ceasefire took effect. -AFP
